, eastern face – 1000m south face, as seen from Thethi The Accursed Mountains are a typical Dinaric karst high mountain range with a pronounced steep topography and glacial features. Maximum relief differences of are found in the
Valbona, Grbaja and Ropojani and Cem valleys. Overhanging walls and ridges forming pointed peaks are typical of the western and central Accursed Mountains. The eastern mountains are less rugged with lower relief. The valleys show characteristic effects of Pleistocene glaciation. Most of the area was modified by glacial activity with
karstic areas in the western parts. The range was formed by the
folding resulting from the collision of the
African and
Eurasian plates. Nowhere in the Balkans have glaciers left so much evidence of erosion. After the
Alps, these mountains are the most glaciated in Europe south of the Scandinavian
ice sheet. They have very steep limestone slopes with abundant karst features. The Accursed Mountains are a large, rugged, pathless range. It is one of the rare mountain ranges in Europe that has not been explored entirely. In some areas, the Accursed Mountains run almost parallel with the
Šar Mountains in
North Macedonia, Albania and Kosovo. This tectonic crash produced the unusual zig-zag shape of the range and also their curving from the dominant Dinaric northwestern – southeastern direction toward the northeastern one. In the western and central parts of the range the composition of the mountains is of mainly uniform with
Mesozoic limestones and dolomites of the
Jurassic and
Cretaceous ages. In the eastern Accursed Mountains in addition to the limestone and dolomite series, there are rocks from the late
Palaeozoic and
Triassic periods, medium-Triassic
volcanic rocks and Jurassic
metamorphic rocks. The Kalktafel is cut deeply with valleys in a variety of rock blocks of the mountains north of Përroi i Thatë, the Biga e Gimajive south of it, the Jezerca block between Shala and Valbona valley, the massif of the Maja e Hekurave, the plateau of the Maja e Kolats north of Valbona and Shkëlzen northeast of Valbona. The valleys were formed by glaciers which created very steep walls and hollows up to deep. The south wall of the
Maja Harapit is high, making it the highest rock face on the Balkan Peninsula. Although some scientific research gives the Accursed Mountains the status of a separate mountain chain, in most other ways this chain is still considered the highest of all Dinaric areas, connected with the Dinaric mountain chain in terms of geology, morphology, and ethnography.
Massifs The Accursed Mountains are made up of many large sections or mountain massifs/groups, all of which are connected to one another. These massifs include the Popluks group with a height of , the Shkurt group at , the Radohimës group at , the Zaborës e Krasniçës at , the Bjelic group at , the Karanfili-Brada group at , the Rabës group at , the Ershellit group at , the Kakinjes group at , the
Shkëlzen group at , the
Bogićevica group at , the Horolac group at , the Kershi Kocaj group at , the Maja e Zezë group at , the Lumbardhit group at , the
Kopranik group at , the Strellc group at , the Gjeravica group at , the
Junik group at , the Starac-Qokorr group , the
Hajla group at , the Stedim-Ahmica group at , the Zleb-Rusulija group at , the
Mokna group at and the Suva Planina group at . It has very steep vertical mountain slopes on both sides. Valleys common at lower altitudes are found at the alpine level, creating mountain passes and valley troughs, such as Buni Jezerce in Albania. Buni Jezerce means "Valley of the Lakes" and it contains six small glacial lakes, the biggest being called the
Big lake of Buni Jezerce.
Canyons in the Accursed Mountains •
Rugova Canyon • Deçani Canyon • Gashi Canyon • Cemi Canyon
Valleys in the Accursed Mountains • Vermosh Valley •
Valbona Valley • Thethi Valley •
Ropojona Valley • Gerbja Valley • Buni Jezerce • Cemi i Nikçit Valley == Rivers and lakes ==